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When we talk about the 'Uncanny Valley', we talk about things that are very humanoid, but not quite humanoid enough. But the obvious target market for humanoid
by cjs_ac 3y ago
When we talk about the 'Uncanny Valley', we talk about things that are very humanoid, but not quite humanoid enough.
But the obvious target market for humanoid robots is retail and hospitality, where there's a high degree of human interaction. In that case, a lot of 'humanness' is needed to suggest to customers that 'yes, you can talk to the robot, and it will do things'. The design of this robot[0], on the other hand, is very un-human (poorly-drawn face aside), telling customers that it has a specific job that doesn't involve them.
[0] https://eftm.com/2020/09/woolworths-robot-for-checking-the-shelves-and-the-isles-for-spills-85284 https://eftm.com/2020/09/woolworths-robot-for-checking-the-s...
- graypegg 3y agoBut doesn’t that make the value in these human-y robots, simply impressing humans? I’m fine with theatrics and awe being the main purpose, but it’s really just the front end to get humans speaking to a hunk of metal without feeling weird. What difference does it make in utility if it was a screen with some 3D model talking back at you? That’s a lot easier to make feel “human”. And now you’ve freed up the design of the robot behind the scenes that actually does the task to be shaped in whatever format is useful. Is the retail space going to get similar value from the robot once the initial “oh wow robot cool” factor wears off?
- steveBK123 3y agoI mean Japan was a decade ahead of us there https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper_(robot) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper_(robot) I don't know that replacing $15/hr at-will labor with a $50k machine that can be vandalized/stolen/etc is going to have a great cost-benefit for most US retailers...